Line #16 Tearjerker/SongsAndFlowers


1	While it's often hilarious and heartwarming, ''Songs and Flowers'' also delves into the real and painful parts of living with mental illnesses, along with the sadness and setbacks that come with living life.
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4	!!Both Routes
5	* Jazz's early life wasn't a happy one. When she was only two years old, her mother disappeared during a trip to the store. Ugly rumors started circulating around their small town that [[ParentalAbandonment she'd abandoned them]], that her father was to blame. She hated hearing about it, hated being pitied by everyone, and was so worried about being a burden to her father. He always told Jazz that her mother did love them and that she had to be out there. People around town started using her family as a cautionary tale. She distanced herself from everyone and started observing them from afar, discovering she had a natural aptitude for collecting information. Using that, she decided to start looking for her mother, to ask her why she left and put an end to all the slander she and her father have had to endure.
6	--> '''Jazz:''' I know now that it was a stupid, desperate dream. I've known that for a while now. But that stupid, desperate dream is all I have.
7	** Her mother's side of the family treated them like trash before cutting off all contact. [[spoiler: When they learn their daughter's body may have been found, not only do they not give a damn, they say she deserved it for running away. No wonder Jazz hates them.]]
8	** At one point, Jazz was approached [[{{Jerkass}} by someone]] who apparently wanted an illicit liaison with her. When she rejected him, he insisted he was being polite and [[KickTheDog even cruelly asked if her mother taught her any manners before he ran off.]]
9	* Several times, Jazz starts internally panicking when she doesn't know how to help. It can be very distressing to see, especially for anyone who's been in a similar situation.
10	* In both routes, after a fun day with either Noct or Carol, Jazz receives the most important phone call of her life: [[spoiler: the police department in her old town confirms that a skeleton was found in a nearby forest. One with a locket that has a picture of baby Jazz and her father. A skeleton that's at least sixteen years old. They've taken her father in for questioning and need her for a [=DNA=] test]]. She hits the DespairEventHorizon ''hard'', and is left wondering if everything she's done, all the work she's put into [[spoiler: trying to find her mother]] has been [[AllForNothing pointless.]]
11	** She spends the ''entire weekend'' locked in her room crying, and is so weak from not eating or sleeping that she collapses on her way to work, only to be narrowly saved by Noct/Carol.
12	** The HopeSpot where Jazz considers maybe [[spoiler: the blood test]] will prove that [[spoiler: it isn't her mom. Then she gets a call that confirms, yes, it's a match. Her mother died sixteen years earlier.]]
13	* The final scene of the game, in the [[TearsOfJoy best way.]] [[spoiler: Elegy Overstreet can finally rest in peace.]]
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15	!!Noct's Route
16	* After Jazz meets Noct, she learns he's clearly not the delinquent people think he is. He's a really nice guy who loves his family. So much so that he's been trying to hide his reputation and his personal issues from them out of fear of being a burden. He feels like they rely on him and he just can't afford to break down.
17	--> '''Noct:''' My sister's off to college. My aunt's working. My brother's balancing work with childcare. Who would have time for my whining? Why would I want to waste their time? And the three kids are...kids.
18	** He also says his parents are probably disappointed in him as well, from wherever they're watching.
19	* Before he met Jazz, Noct's former friends had all distanced themselves from him and most others were too scared to talk to him. You can't blame him for being reluctant to admit what was happening to him.
20	* When Jazz asks why he keeps getting into fights, Noct admits that fighting is one of the only things that makes him feel alive. He focuses on the adrenaline rush that comes from it, but it's not hard to see it from [[SelfHarm another perspective...]]
21	** And he's been getting to fights for so long that he doesn't even remember when it started.
22	* Another reason Noct doesn't want to bring up the issue is because he doesn't understand what his problem even is. He can't focus in school, can't sleep, his memory's fuzzy, and fighting is one of the only things that makes him feel alive. By his own admission, he wants something to care about, but he has a hard time finding one, even a reason to keep going. Hits very close to home for anyone who's struggled with clinical depression without even realizing it.
23	* For all his attempts at hiding it, Noct's family can tell something's bothering him. They all question Jazz about it, since she's the first friend he's brought home in a long time. They're all afraid just asking him outright will make things worse, and it's hard to blame them.
24	* When Jazz is playing hide-and-seek with Nada and Serena, Nada's quiet after she finds her. [[spoiler: She'd accidentally walked in on Noct changing and saw [[CoveredInScars all the cuts and bruises on his back.]] And [[ChildrenAreInnocent she decides it must mean he's secretly a superhero fighting for love and justice.]] When she asks if she can help them, Jazz tells her it's too dangerous and can't bring herself to tell her the real reasons why.]]
25	* Even after his family assures him that they still love and support him, Noct admits he still doesn't understand why or what's so good about him. Thankfully, he does promise to try and get there someday.
26	* During Jazz's stay with Noct's family, his Aunt Bolero asks her about [[spoiler: what happened to her mother]] and offers to share a story of her own. Noct's parents moved across the border before her, but they still kept in touch. They had an old car and they didn't notice something was wrong with the brakes. She's a mechanic and wonders if she could've offered them the chance to look it over the last time she visited. Ultimately though, it's past. Blaming yourself isn't going to change anything.
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Context Tearjerker / SongsAndFlowers